The struggle and juggle of being a working mom:
How do I keep sane when there is a long day at work?
I was at 3 jobs yesterday. My regular job, a consulting job and my mommying job. And I was tired when I came home from my second job. Real, real bone tired. Oh and cranky and in a real ugly, head in a mush mood. Yet, I still had to work. Work at being a mommy. It was not easy. I should capitalize the word not. I made a lot of mistakes, done things I shouldn’t, and said things I wished I didn’t. Yet, I was tired, real bone tired. And it was all my fault.
Why do I say it was my fault?
I should have been prepared. Don’t students have the responsibility to study for a test prior to taking it? Well then, don’t working moms have a responsibility to prepare for their job? I knew it will be a long day. A very long day in fact. However, I figured I would just ride the wave. Boy was I wrong. Riding waves also need prep, real waves and imaginary waves. No surfer would go out to sea without prior preparation and practice.
So, what should I have done differently to help prep for my long day at work? I sat down to write a list to help me do a better job next time. I ran through my day and wrote down what I felt would have been a help to get me through my long day.
How to prepare for a long day at work:
- Eat a good healthy breakfast.
- Sleep well the night before- I noticed the better I sleep the sharper and quicker I react and think
- Prepare lunch for yourself- and find a 5 minute break to eat something, however small it is.
- Breathe- practice taking deep long breathes- in from the nose out of the mouth.
- Prepare dinner the night before or pre-plan an easy meal to prep!
Had I been a little better prepared, the day would not have been that bad. I was just exhausted and that is what made the day and night so tough. I did have a hearty breakfast however I took no break during the day. In addition, there was no dinner prepared so when I came home from work the children were hungry and so was I. I certainly was not in the mood to cook and being that I do my grocery shopping once a week, I did not have any frozen dinners in the freezer.
Life is busy and I am grateful for that, and many of us have many long days at work, however to keep going and to accomplish remember: “that prep for the day sends the exhaustion away!